Volunteer Spotlight: E*TRADE

Culpepper Garden celebrates their partnership with E*TRADE, a publicly traded company with one of their corporate offices based in Ballston. What started as one weekly volunteer from E*TRADE has grown into a team of 13 employees volunteering in pairs twice a week to solve residents’ computer and technology problems in either our computer lab or in their apartments. One resident serves as logistics manager, coordinating resident requests with volunteers so that every minute is put to good use.

E*TRADE is committed to investing their local communities. Their Community Investment team regularly plans and manages volunteer events for their employees within the DC metro area, including recruiting volunteers to serve at Culpepper Garden. At the end of the year, the Community Investment team recognizes volunteers by hosting a special appreciation event.

For E*TRADE volunteers, many feel challenged by and responsible for efficiently and effectively meeting residents’ needs. So, E*TRADE worked with Culpepper Garden to implement a process for residents to receive individual attention, resolving one technology/computer issue at a time. The E*TRADE volunteers have been well-received by many residents of Culpepper Garden, and in a few short months, the volunteers have resolved 55 resident problems. E*TRADE volunteers help residents on a variety of tasks including resetting passwords, conducting Google searches, using FaceTime, and taking pictures using cellphones.

E*TRADE works with more than 60 nonprofits in the DC metropolitan area, including 5 counties in  Maryland, 16 counties in Northern Virginia and one in West Virginia. The Culpepper Garden volunteer program is one of the newer volunteer initiatives and continues to evolve. Culpepper Garden is pleased that volunteers are working one-on-one with residents twice a week (totaling 4 hours per week) to solve individual issues and that their residents now have resources to help meet their technology needs.